Australian drugs in sport scandal: former sports scientist with Essendon AFL side denies doping accusations

Former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank has denied supplying the
Australian Rules club's players with performance-enhancing drugs – and
insisted he ran his supplement programme with the full knowledge of other
high-ranking club officials.

The Australian Football League (AFL) confirmed yesterday that Essendon was under investigation by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) following a 12-month probe into drug use, match-fixing and links with criminal organisations across a number of sports in the country.

Dank admitted to having ''35 to 40'' players in his care at Essendon but is adamant he did not prescribe anything which would contravene the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.

''They had intravenous injections for vitamin B and vitamin C which were quite compliant with the WADA code ... nothing else intravenously,'' Dank said in a pre-recorded interview with ABC programme 7.30.

''There was no intravenous application of peptides whatsoever.

''The peptides themselves is a fairly broad term, even within the protein powders themselves there could have been anywhere from maybe three to four different peptides that were part of the ingredients ... but again (it was) all very, very legal and certainly all within the constraints of WADA.''

Essendon called a press conference last week at which chairman David Evans and coach James Hird admitted their concern over Dank's involvement with the Melbourne-based outfit and insisted they were unaware of exactly what had been given to their players.

Today Dank, who left the club late last year, insisted that was not the case.

''There was a collective involvement – you know it wasn't just Steve Dank,'' he added.

''There was certainly input from people outside myself. There was a very significant involvement from Dean (Robinson) as the high-performance manager, there was detailed discussion with James Hird, there was detailed discussion with the club doctor.''

Dank suggested every AFL club employed hi-tech strategies in a bid to improve their chances of on-field success.

''You'd be sort of foolish to think that Essendon were the only (club) that were looking at these sort of programmes,'' Dank said.

''And I think when you think of what these players do on a week-to-week and a year-to-year basis, I think you've got 18 clubs that are all very well coached and obviously all have a very good high-performance unit and they want a cutting edge.''

The ACC report, which was released last Thursday, was criticised for not identifying specific targets – sparking fears it was tarnishing the reputations of a number of clubs and players across various codes.

But the National Rugby League today confirmed it had passed on information from the ACC to its clubs under suspicion.

''The information that has been passed on to the clubs is simply that they have been referred to within the report,'' said NRL chief executive Dave Smith.

''The NRL is working with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) who will establish a more detailed briefing with the clubs regarding its investigation.

''We have an opportunity in this instance to make a clear statement about our values by working with the authorities to take every appropriate action.

''It is equally important that everyone is focused on maintaining a proper process and that represents an important responsibility in terms of what is both said and done.''

It is now up to the clubs in question as to whether they make this information public, but the NRL will continue to stay silent on the matter.

''Regardless of the outcome of any investigation, we are already committed to establishing the strongest integrity and compliance unit of any code and we are determined to see rugby league stronger for having addressed these issues,'' Smith said.